


Mad Maximoffs

by Gackroo



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Action, Gen, Post-Apocalyptic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:58:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4018870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gackroo/pseuds/Gackroo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic places Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (aka Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch) in the Mad Max universe, specifically Mad Max: Fury Road. Wand and Pietro don't have their powers but they are amazing fighters that act as hired mercenaries in this post apocalyptic wasteland</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mad Maximoffs

MAD MAXIMOFFS part 1 - Alone in the Sand

The sun beat down on the empty expanse of the Outback. All around the twins was nothing but empty desert and swirling sand. Far off in the distance, hazy in the afternoon heat, was the silhouette of the only city for miles: Bartertown. The twins had begun their journey 161 days ago, and had been riding almost non stop since the moment their engines roared to life. Now that their destination was so close, Wanda felt a sense of melancholy, not wanting the job to be over. Not that it'd be their last one, they'd never stop, but this was the first one in months that had excited her. A hit in a far away city, no one around to know them personally, just the open desert and their reputation traveling faster than any of the thousands vehicle leaving plumes of sand behind them in that wasteland. This was to be their biggest score yet, and all they had to do was win some sort of game (their employer hadn't been specific).  
Now the twins stood on a sand dune, watching that mornings patrol pass through the gates of Bartertown. A few minutes passed and the afternoon patrol took off into the wastes.  
After a moment of quiet, Wanda turned To Pietro. He was pensive, leaning against his bike, his shaggy white hair drifting lazily in the warm breeze. His face was caked with mud and sand, mixing with sweat and traces of dried blood. They hadn't stopped for days, and both were in desperate need of a wash. He had a coating of stubble that he refused to take care of despite the many sharp blades he carried on his person, always simply saying he's proud of it. Around his neck hung a handkerchief of an unknown color, coated in dried sweat and sand. The goggles he wore normally to protect his eyes were also lazily strung around his neck, but upon noticing Wanda looking at him, he shifted them up his head and slid them into place.  
"We should get moving." He said, and pulled his handkerchief over his nose. He turned and climbed onto his bike. It was a menacing thing, shockingly chrome in the stark desert wasteland. He called it QuickSilver. Wanda had never seen him be overtaken while riding that thing, even the fastest cars meant for racing couldn't beat it's blinding speed. He turned the handle and the engine sputtered to life. He looked down and tapped the gauge on the center console.  
"Shit." He said. He looked up at Wanda. "Let's hope Bartertown has Guzzoline or I may be stuck far away from home. I'll head out. If I go full speed I'll reach the city in an hour."  
"Bullshit. that things fast brother, but not that fast." He laughed and after fumbling at a pack, tossed her a stopwatch.  
"Time me. Remember, I'll send up a flare when I get there. If it's black, I'm all safe, if it's read, you might wanna get a move on. Good luck."  
With that, he was off, with a sound like a bullet. A 10 foot high plume of sand rose up behind him as he streaked away, nothing but a silver streak.  
Wanda turned and began the long haul of packing everything into her car. She stacked boxes of assorted ammo, several empty Guzzoline cans, nearly empty water skins, and boxes of food, all into the trunk of her pride and joy: The Meteor. The whole thing was sleek and shiny, only partially caked in sand and mud. The whole exterior was deep red.  
Same with the many spikes extruding from the sides, but those were net painted. The tires were strong and durable, each rim with a mess of barbed wire protruding from it. As a whole, the machine looked like the physical embodiment of death, made metal. It was the red coloring of her vehicle and the skill at which she was able to control it that far and wide she was known by one name: The Scarlett Witch.  
Once the meteor was loaded and her personal supply of guns and ammo was plopped down in a duffel bag on the passenger seat, Wanda climbed in. She turned the key and the familiar purr of the engine graced her ears. This is what she lived for. She shifted into drive and slammed down the pedal. Her car took off at a blinding speed down the wastes. Far far off in the distance she saw the silver speck that was Pietro. After a few minutes of silent open road, Wanda decided it was safe to look around. As her eagle eyes swept the salt, she caught her own reflection in the rearview mirror. It had been so long since she had thought to look, looks don't matter in a dead world. But considering how long Pietro spends staring at himself, she thought she was entitled.  
What she saw made her feel uneasy. Her entire face was dirty and stained with blood.  
"Living up to my name." She thought.  
There were dark circles under her eyes from many nights of riding, and she had a long scar running from the top of her nose down across her left cheek. Her head was shaved on one side, the other side long and wavy, and bright red. The whole image looked right, but something was off. Then she caught it. Behind her were two scrap looking vehicles, closing fast. Her mind immediately went into fight or flight. She knew she needed to get to the city as fast as possible, but something told her she wouldn't be met well with two buzzards on her tail. Making a split second decision, she slowed down just enough for the scavengers to catch up. Each of them took a side, blocking off her view of the far am away mountains.  
"What have we here?!" Shouted one of the men on the right car.  
"Dunno!" Shouted a woman from the left. "But looks to be a pretty piece of scrap. It'll sell for a pretty penny no matter what."  
"Yeah, just gotta get rid of the owner!!" Shouted the man again, and laughter and testing rose up from the cars on both sides. Wanda kept her cool, but slowly reached down and pulled a pistol from a hidden compartment under the wheel. She felt around with her foot and pushed the button next to the acceleration that would lock it in place. She took her feet off of the pedals and prepared herself.  
Ba-boom  
She felt her heart beat, then it was chaos. Her attackers had no time to react. She sprung up from her seat and took a pot shot at the man string on top of the first scavenger car. Miraculously it stuck true and he collapsed. Before the other could do anything she stood up for real and leapt from her Scarlett death machine, right into the crows nest of the enemy car. The driver and passenger looked up in shock, but it only lasted for a second as Wanda buried a bullet in each of their skulls. Both fell limp on each other. The one who had been driving fell on the wheel, jerking the car off to the right, right at a hill of sand. Wandas instincts kicked in and she jumped back to the meteor just before the first scavenger car crested the hills and flipped, the engine block getting crushed and the whole thing exploding in a ball of flame.  
Nodding at her handiwork, she turned to the other car. The woman sitting in the crows nest was holding a grenade and had a look of insane happiness spread across her face. Acting fast, Wanda raised her pistol and shot the grenade before it could leave the woman's hand. The world seemed to slow, as shrapnel tore through the woman and fire licked every corner of the car. It veered off course slightly, right into a rock half barrier in the sand. The car seemed to contort before it was launched up in the air, flipping twice before landing with a fiery crunch. Wanda watched the wreckage for a few seconds before returning her eyes to the road.  
She took a deep breath to calm herself. Her heat was beating faster than her car could run, and with no Pietro to calm her down she was at risk to enter a full blown panic.  
"It's alright." She told herself. "They're dead, they can't get you."  
Her breaths slowly returned to normal and she had a few calm moments of driving before she heard the familiar boom on the horizon, very faint but still there. A trail of smoke sailed up into the sky from Bartertown. Just as it reached its peak and began its descent, it exploded in a red flash. She didn't have to be close to see know. It was a red flare, and Pietro was in trouble. She gunned the engine and against her better judgement, slammed down the nitrous button. There was a deafening boom and Wanda Maximoff shot off into the unknown like a blur of Scarlett, her mind only filled with one thought: I Have to save my brother.

MAD MAXIMOFFS part 2- Enter Bartertown

Pietro flipped the kickstand up, and, with a final remark to Wanda, took off zooming out into the wastes. Two hours. He had two hours to make it all the way to Bartertown. He was gonna make it there in one. The sand was lightly packed under his tires, but the moment his bike passed over, it was flown skyward in a huge arc, create the look of liquid trailing behind him. He felt the warm winds crash into his face as he sped on. His whole body felt flushed and red, despite being covered in leather. Bits of sand and dust were flown at him at blinding speed, but were simply deflected by the goggles blocking his eyes. He breathed steadily under his bandana hoping to whatever god graced high heaven he didn’t have to ride through a sandstorm. The hot sun beat steadily down on his head. The cries of far-away bandits brushed his ears. But he kept on riding.

The image of Bartertown was still hazy on the horizon has he hit the half hour mark. If he wanted to make it there within the hour he knew he had to pull all the stops. Without slowing down for an instant, Pietro reached back and loosened the two valves on the side of his bike. He heard a faint hissing sound as the nitrous left its container and waited in the tubes to be injected into the engine. When he was satisfied, the flipped up the shield blocking the small red switch fused onto the handles of Quicksilver. He took a breath, and flipped it on. Somewhere, deep in the belly of his bike, gears turned and pistons fired, and the nitrous valve slid open with a ker-chunk.

At first, silence, then his ears were filled with a deafening boom. His bike exploding forward with the force of a bomb, leaving a seared trail in the sands behind him. Pietro could feel the heat of the flames shooting from the exhaust pipe roasting his back, but he soldiered on and focused his eyes on the horizon. Slowly but surely, Bartertown grew in size and scale, until he drew close enough to see the shadow that the mountainous town cast on the stark desert landscape.

As soon as he could see the flags adorning the outside of the city walls, he killed the nitrous and slowed his bike down too nothing more than a gallop. He drew closer to the city and its gates loomed higher and higher above him. The one entrance stood as tall as a building, with “BARTERTOWN” in large lettering across the top and a wooden sign hanging below that on metal chains that read “Helping Build A Better Tomorrow.” He passed under the gate at a snails pace, feeling the gaze of the city guards on his neck pierce him like a hot poker. He managed to enter the city without any trouble, cruising his bike into the auto shop and tossing the owner a few shotgun shells to keep it safe.

“If there are any fucking scratches on that thing when I get back, I’m burying those shells in your skull.” He said. The shopkeeper spat at him, but took the payment anyway and rolled the bike into the corner.

Pietro walked out into the first area of the city and began to look at his surroundings. Bartertown wasn’t massive, but it was large enough and crowded enough that getting from one end to the other was a hassle. The whole city was ringed by mountains of sand and rock, cooked in the sun. There was a large empty space beyond the gate where those seeking to trade gathered in a line, waiting to make it all the way into the citadel. Beyond the citadel was the rest of the city. Many residential buildings were scattered about as well as buildings with an unknown purpose, a large tower, and something resembling a large dome shaped cage. It looked menacing and deadly for some reason, and left an uneasy feeling in anyone who looked for too long. Pietro shook this off and joined the throng of people pressing forward, hoping to gain entry to Bartertown.

The clamor of everyone was deafening after the silence of the wastes and his head was clouded with a mix of excitement, fear, and unease. All this was enough to cause him to forget the flare gun sitting lodged in his pocket.

He checked his watch. He had arrived three minutes before the hour mark. He had some gloating to do when he saw Wanda next.

The line moved slowly, creeping along towards the citadel. The people around him would be strange to anyone not accustomed to towns out in the wasteland. Everyone was covered in layers, their faces hidden by many shawls and scarves. Dirt and sand caked everyone from head to toe, some even had blood dried in places. The world was a harsh place. Each person carried something, or dragged it on a sled, or spread the burden on a gurney between a group of people. Pietro felt out of place, as the only thing on his face was a bandana and the only thing he carried was the flare gun in his pocket, the bag slung around his shoulder, and the double-barreled shotgun tucked into his belt. People started at him from all around but he did his best to ignore them.

“All I have to do is get into the city.” He thought. “And find some way to get to whoever runs this place.”

The line kept moving forward slowly. After what seemed to be a century, Pietro arrived at the citadel. Inside was a man sitting at a podium with his eyes downturned at some papers. Pietro approached him slowly and cleared his throat. The man glanced up and said:

“Name.”

“Pietro Maximoff.” Said Pietro.

“What do you have to trade?”

Pietro took the bag off his shoulder and placed it on the man’s podium. The man pulled back one of the flaps and scratched something on his paper.

“Bullets. Is that all?” Pietro shook his head and pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket. The man took it, read it over, and looked up Pietro with interest.

“A mercenary from the BulletFarm eh? And what does that twat of a sharpshooter want now?”

Pietro looked the man in the eyes and said: “For me to get into the city, and to see whoever runs this place.”

The man nodded and, crumpling up the paper, gestured to the other path to his right. Pietro nodded and thanked the man, then headed down the corridor. He passed through a dark doorway into a small room where they took his shotgun away and locked it up in a box on a shelf.

“Just safety mate, hope you understand.” The girl behind the counter said. He walked out the other door back into the blazing sunlight.

The city was calm for it being mid-afternoon. The clamor was not as great as that of the line, but more low and work-like. He began his walk down the main thoroughfare, his eyes locked on the tower looming above. Everything was calm and going smoothly, until he heard a man clear his throat from a nearby alley.

“Hey mate. Yeah you with the white hair.” Pietro turned to see a man in a city guard uniform. He looked friendly enough but he made Pietro uneasy. The man gestured for Pietro to follow him and he decided to oblige. As Pietro neared, the man began to speak.

“I was sent by Aunty. She’s the lady who runs Bartertown. She got word some bloke from the Bulletfarm had just arrived matching your description who had some dispute with her.” Pietro kept a straight face, but as the man was talking he felt around in his pocket for the flare gun and, upon finding the flare with “RED” scratched on the side, slid it into the chamber.

“Now I don’t know if that’s true, but she doesn’t like underhanded threats.” The man continued. “If you do got a dispute with Aunty, you got a whole city to fight your way through if you want her dead.”

Pietro stood still for a second, not knowing how to react. This second was too long, and he heard two other armored men walk up behind him. The familiar click of a shotgun being cocked brushed by his ears and he cursed himself for being so lazy.

“This is why my sister tells me to slow down.” He thought.

All three of the men drew closer and he could see them preparing to strike. He waited until he could almost feel their breath, then lunged forward knocking one to the ground. The others reeled back in shock, giving him time to pull the flare gun out of his pocket. He raised it straight up and fired. A stream of smoke took to the air and exploded in a red flash. The men stood there in shock for a moment at the color in the de-saturated landscape, then they looked back at Pietro. He smiled and said:

“What, you didn’t see that coming?” The two men jumped him and he was out cold.

 

Wanda Maximoff tore through the line, talked her way past the man in the citadel, and broke out into the open air of dusk with all her weapons, just to get stopped by some beggars asking for some food, any food. She brushed them off and turned her attention towards the spectacle in the center of town. Hundreds of people were gathered en mass around the metal dome cage in the center and jeering and shouting filled the cooling air. She broke into a run and arrived at the edge of the throng out of breath and sweaty. People were packed tightly, trying to see through the metal bars of the cage. Hundreds of people were also watching on the dome itself, clinging to the outside and shouting at whatever was inside. She forced her way through the crowd to the very front where the sheer force of people pushed her against the metal and knocked the wind out of her. With some difficulty she turned her head to be looking inwards at the spectacle.

In the center of the dome stood a man in a dirty raggedy suit and top hat. He was standing, arms outstretched, letting the crowd jeer and call and shout. With one wave however, he silenced the whole congregation and raised a microphone to his lips.

“Thunderdome!” He yelled, which was met by a chorus of cheers. “How we settle disputes here in Bartertown! And tonight we have a spectacle for all of you! This man was sent here to kill our dear old Aunty.” The crowd booed and hissed but he silenced them. “To defend our fearless leader, one Joseph the bruiser, fresh of the guard ranks and out for blood!” The crowd roared and this time he let them shout it out.

A box was brought to the center. He kicked it open and weapons were passed along from the box all up the sides of the arena and hooked into place. Nasty things like maces and spears and even a chainsaw. The two contenders were pushed forward and Wanda could clearly see his face. Her brother, beaten and dirty, was glaring daggers at the man in the center. Wanda felt rage building up inside her and it killed her that there was nothing she could do but lay against the cold metal and watch.

Two people emerged from each side of the dome to strap harnesses onto each opponent. The ropes were elastic and Pietro and Joseph both rose a bit off of the ground. Pietro looked down in dismay then looked around the crowd in terror. They locked eyes. Instantly his face changed from fear to determination. He nodded at her and she nodded back. Then he looked forward and the man began to speak again.

“Listen all! This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all. Look at us now! Busted up, and everyone talking about hard rain! But we've learned, by the dust of them all... Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter; one man leaves.” The crowd began the chant.

“Two men enter; One man Leaves! Two men enter; One man Leaves! Two men enter; One man Leaves! Two men enter; One man Leaves!” It grew louder and louder until Wanda had to cover her ears. The man in the center let it play for a few minutes, then quieted everyone with a wave. This time he addressed Pietro and his opponent.

“Now I know you two wont break the rules… because there are no rules. Two men enter; one man leaves!!” The crowd roared with bloodlust.

Wanda watched in horror and helplessness as the man her brother had to kill, jumped at Pietro with death in his eyes.

MAD MAXIMOFFS part 3 - Surviving Thunderdome

“Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves!” 

The crowd chanted on and on, non-stop, and endless chorus of voices calling for bloodshed. They pounded on the iron of the dome, making the whole cage shudder like an earthquake was shaking the sand beneath their feet. Floodlights were shining down on the whole spectacle from above. Pietro looked around, trying to find a face in the crowd. Something, someone friendly, anything to calm his racing heart. He felt each breath catch in his throat, and it was all he could do to choke back tears. Time seemed to pass in slow motion around him, and every face he looked at was nothing but a mask of hate and bloodlust.

“Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves!”

He could hear his heart beat in his ears. Blood rushed to his face. He couldn’t tell what was happening it was just one blur of light and sound and screaming. With the little hope he had left, he scanned the crowd again. They completely encircled him, cutting off any view of the sky. Just mutilated bodies screaming and jeering for him to die. 

His vision grew dim and the pounding in his head was pushed aside by a disturbing level of calm. Words floated across his empty brain like dead leaves on a lazy river.

“It’s too much. It’s too much. Too many people too many things. I’m not going to see my sister again.” The thought of her made his heart hurt. “I’m not going to see her. I’m not gonna see Wanda.”

He felt his body wanting to collapse. The leather he was wearing felt hot and all he wanted to do was lay down naked and go to sleep.

“Am I dying?” He thought. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”

He put his hand on his chest to feel that his heartbeat was picking up even more. Tears finally started to run down his cheeks and he hoped the man across the arena didn’t see his weakness. The man.

Pietro forced himself to look up. Standing 20 meters away was a man in guard’s armor, suspended by the same harness that he was wearing. The man looked deranged, seemed to be egged on by the crowd’s chanting. He snorted like a bull and prepared to charge. Pietro stood up straight and looked the man in the eyes. He saw something there, more than bloodlust. Madness. The man tensed, preparing to leap. In final attempt, Pietro looked back at the crowd. That’s when they locked eyes, and suddenly he was ready to fight. 

He nodded at his sister, new fire in his veins, and death blazing behind his cold brown eyes. His heart still beat fast, but now it was from adrenaline, not panic. The tears stopped flowing and began to dry. He hoped that Wanda hadn’t seen them, he didn’t want her to know that he had been overtaken by the panic again. 

Pietro Maximoff shifted his eyes from his sister to his target, and immediately the man noticed he had changed. 

“I can do this.” He thought. “I have to. Me and my sister are going to make it out of Bartertown alive.” He took a step forward. The man stepped forward as well, but much more cautiously.

The crowd seemed to die. Pietro knew they were still chanting, but he didn’t hear them anymore. All he heard was his heart beat, and his slow, metered breathing, just like Wanda had taught him. The man was staring still, and Pietro knew if he moved another inch the man would be upon him. The crowd’s chants filtered back to his hearing, and he knew what he had to do.

“Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves! Two men enter; One man leaves!”

“Might as well give them what they want.” Thought Pietro. Slowly and calmly, he took a step forward.

It seemed to happen at the speed of sound. The man across the arena was suddenly colliding into him at top speed, propelled by the elastic harness dangling him from the ceiling. Pietro was knocked backward, lifted airborne for two entire seconds, and landed without any air in his lungs. He gasped and sputtered, trying to clear the spots from his vision. The man charged at him but Pietro rolled out of the way and pulled himself up. He tilted his head back and examined the lattice of metal at his fingertips and the many weapons dangling from people’s hands and hooked onto the metal.

“Pietro!! Climb up!” He heard Wanda shout from behind him. He grabbed the highest bars he could reach, and pulled himself off of the ground.

The crowd’s jeering grew louder, and as Pietro began to climb higher people tried hard to push him off. He slapped away their hands and pulled himself higher and higher until he was sure that he wouldn’t be reached by anyone on the ground. He began to inch along the cold metal, moving slowly but confident that his opponent wouldn’t be smart enough to reach him. The crowd pushed harder and harder, apparently not amused by the lack of blood. He managed to reach one of the maces hung on the cage before the force was too great and he had to let go.

He grabbed the mace and pushed off as hard as he could with his legs. He was launched backwards into the air, the elastic suspension keeping him from dying right then and there. He collided with the other side of the dome and grabbed on for a second, before using his legs again to launch himself downwards, directly at his enemy.

The man dodged out of the way as Pietro rushed past him and swung the mace. Pietro collided with the dirt hard, but managed to turn the landing into a roll and pop right back to his feet. He slowly turned to face his opponent once more. 

“Are you scared of me, big man?” He shouted across the arena. The man snorted and shook like a bull about to charge. Pietro backed up slightly, but the man just raised his arms outstretched.

“For the glory of Bartertown!” Shouted the man, and a cheer rose up all around which made Pietro uneasy.

He searched the crowd and found Wanda again, and shot her a look of confusion. She looked just as confused, if not absolutely terrified and maybe a little proud. Pietro looked back at the man with confidence, which faded to terror as soon as he saw what was happening. All the way from the top of the arena, the people began to pass down two metal objects which, by some stretch of the imagination, could have once been baseball bats. Now they were twisted and demonic, wrapped in barbed wire with viscous looking spikes grafted on all along their length. The crowd moved them along like a river, flowing them right into the man’s hands. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the deadly steel, he let out an in human bellow and charged at Pietro.

 

Wanda had heard stories about Bartertown being a breeding a ground for the insane, but she never realized how true that was until that beast was barreling down on her brother and she could do nothing to stop it. The mass of the crowd was still pushing her against the cage, so she was pinned in place unless she could do something to stop the fight. She felt the lump of her flare gun pushing against the metal.

“If I could get to it.” She thought. “This thing would be over and we’d be free.”

She slowly began to worm her hand downwards from where it was pinned, high above her head. The crowds shouts and screams and constant yelling of “Two men enter; One man leaves!” was deafening and it took all her concentration to focus on her plan, instead of the maniacs surrounding her. Below her, the battle raged on, and she rarely dared to look down at her brother.

 

Pietro was locked in a game of cat and mouse. He didn’t much like the feeling of being powerless, but he knew that if he tried to get close he’d get clipped by one of the man’s death clubs. So, he resorted to the tactic of jumping out of the way of the man’s swings and taunting him from high up in the cage. The man was slowly getting madder and madder, smacking the cage repeatedly until Pietro let go. This carried on for several minutes, until even the crowd got bored. The cries for Pietro’s blood to be spilled turned into begging requests for someone, anyone, to die. 

Pietro took a second to glance at Wanda. Her eyes weren’t even turned to the fight, but instead it looked like she was trying to fish something out of her pocket while the crowd went apeshit around her. He wished she would look at him, but he knew she was doing something important that might save them both. He decided instead to focus on his opponent. 

“This thing need to end, right here, right now!” Pietro shouted at the man down below.

“Maybe we could if you stayed on the ground instead of flying around like a bird!!” The man roared back. The crowd joined in eagerly with “Two men enter; One man leaves!”

Pietro took one last look at Wanda before letting go of the ceiling and falling lazily down to the ground. He stood perfectly parallel to his enemy, staring him dead in the eyes. No matter what happened, it happened right then, and Pietro was determined he was gonna come out on top.

“If this is how you all settle things in this town, lets settle this!” Pietro yelled. For once the crowd joined him in shouting.

Pietro felt the weight of the mace in his hand. One crack on the head and the man would go down. All he had to do was get in close. There was a beat, he took a breath, and charged. 

The man swung the club in his right hand with full force. Pietro managed to duck under it but the thing tore through his harness like it was made of twine. Not used to full gravity, he hit the ground hard and had to roll out of the way of the man’s thunderous swing. Pietro popped to his feet and swung his mace into the man’s side. He bellowed and as Pietro removed the sharp spikes, his armor was darkened with blood. The man clutched his side and staggered to the side. For one beautiful second, Pietro thought it was over, but when the man turned back his eyes were filled with rage.

Pietro let his guard down for only a second, but that’s all it took. The man crashed into him and knocked him down to the ground. He stayed on top of him and kept him pinned to the dirt. His massive hand wrapped around Pietro’s neck. Almost immediately, Pietro’s vison began to blur and spot. All he saw was the man’s crazed face over his, when his last hope gave out. Pietro broke down again. The panic took hold of him deep in his gut, and there was no way it was gonna let go unless he let go. The sides of his vision started to blacken as everything else was blurred by tears that rolled down his cheeks and into the sand. He kept on waiting, waiting for the final blow when everything would go dark. He felt the man lean in close, so close he could smell the gas and blood on his breath.

“There’s no need to cry love.” The man whispered. “It’ll all be over soon.” Pietro winced and he heard the man laugh, then yell for everyone to hear: “Even in his last moments, he cries like a baby!” The crowd laughed and jeered and Pietro felt his eyes sting as more tears began to form. 

“For the glory of Bartertown!” Shouted the man, and Pietro saw the outline of his club raise high in the air.

“What a lovely day!! What a lovely day!” Shouted the man, and then there was a flash, and people began to scream. 

Pietro felt the grip on his throat disappear as the man clutched his face and screamed. As Pietro’s vision returned, he finally saw what was happening. The man’s head was coated in red fire, and he was screaming as pieces of skin and flesh began to slowly melt off. Pietro turned to see Wanda standing at the edge of the dome, the crowd parted around her and a smoking flare gun outstretched in her hands. It took Pietro a moment to realize what she did. Once it hit him he looked down in shock, then he felt an odd sense of pride wash over him. He fumbled around on the ground until his fingers wrapped around the handle of his mace. He gripped it tight and stood up. For a moment, he thought he might collapse again, but he regained his balance and slowly walked over the man, sitting curled up, still clutching his burned head. Pietro poked the man with one of the maces spikes. The man recoiled and turned his ruined face towards Pietro.

“It is a lovely day mate.” Pietro said. “But not for you, and not for them,” He gestured to the crowd, “Or to anyone that wants to stand in our way. You see me and my sister? She’s known as The Scarlett Witch, and me and my ride are known as Quicksilver. We mean something out here on the wastes. We’re road warriors, and we ain’t gonna take shit from anybody. We’re mad you see, the Mad Maximoffs. Which were the world civilized would be a bad thing, but we don’t live in a civilized world, we live in this one. And this one, is run by the mad.”

With that, Pietro swung his mace in a tall arc and brought it down into the man’s skull. There was a loud crunch that echoed around the now silent arena. He ripped it out with a squelch, and all was still.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Wanda squeeze through one of the holes in the latticework. She brushed herself off and, whistling, tossed a double-barrel at Pietro. He caught it with a flick of the wrist, cocked it, and held it out in front of him. He felt Wanda go back to back with him and heard the sound of a shotgun being loaded and flicked closed. He turned his head slightly to say:

“We’ve got maybe 3 minutes until the entirety of Bartertown is on our asses. Any ideas?”

 

Wanda nodded her head and gestured over to the doorway leading out of the Thunderdome. She saw Pietro follow her arm with his eyes and nod.

“Okay on three.” She said. She felt Pietro tense.

“3”

There was shouting and yelling from far away. Those that had been watching the fight had almost returned with weapons and fire and a thirst for outsider blood. Wanda could even see some people from the underbelly of Bartertown, covered in pig shit and wielding shovels, coming for them.

“2”

Pietro’s head scanned from side to side like an automatic turret, searching for anyone seeking to flank them. Wanda could see his finger itching at the trigger of his shotgun.

“1”

At the same time, both Maximoffs made a break for the door. The shouting grew louder and a few bullets whizzed by their heads. Wanda felt a few pieces of buckshot scrape her arm as they entered the tunnel. She winced and hissed but kept on running. Pietro was faster and it was all she could do to try and keep up, even though she felt blood starting to trickle down her arm. They broke out of the tunnel into the moonlight, only to be surrounded by some citizens that had broken off from the main crowd. One of them had on guard’s armor, so naturally Pietro aimed his shotgun at him first and fired into his skull. The guy was blasted to the ground and Pietro ducked under the swing of the guy next to him. Wanda kicked one of the guys in the chest and knocked him to the ground, then cocked her shotgun and pulled the trigger right against his head. The last guy charged at her with a machete, but she ducked under his swing, elbowed him in the ribs, then pushed herself up with the full force projected into the guy’s jaw with her fist. He left the ground for a moment, which was long enough for Pietro to blast him in the side and send him crumbling into the sand. The Maximoffs looked at their handiwork. Pietro raised his fist out level with her. She turned confused, then smiled and pounded his fist with hers.

The two of them kept on running. They had to constantly duck into alleys and hide behind buildings to avoid more mob confrontations. It took almost an hour, but they were able to sneak their way to the auto shop. The owner was sitting asleep at his desk, totally oblivious to the chaos outside. He woke up with a jolt when Wanda poked him in the forehead with her shotgun.

“Give us our wheels back, unless you wanna give me a reason to shoot mate?” She said. He quickly opened up the garage and sitting there in perfect condition, were The Meteor and Quicksilver. 

As they watched, the shopkeeper filled them up with Guzzoline. They thanked him for his trouble with a couple shotgun shells and a kiss on the cheek from Pietro.

“Thanks mate.” Pietro said, and they drove away laughing.

For a while, it seemed they were home free. They were about an hour away from Bartertown when they heard the rumble of motors in the distance. 

“Shit.” Pietro killed the engines on his bike and listened. “You hear that sis?”

Wanda nodded and looked around.

“What’s close?” She thought. “BulletFarm is almost 170 days away, and Gastown ain’t much closer…”

It wasn’t until she heard the hollering that she knew what was almost upon them. 

“Pietro. Bandits for hire.” She said, and he cocked his ear to listen.

On the horizon they saw a whole war party approaching. Each car was loaded with more men than it could carry and each one was screaming at the top of its lungs.

“Shit!” Said Pietro. “They must have sent up a flare from Bartertown.”

“Think we can outrun them?” Wanda asked.

“There may be a chance, but only on Quicksilver.”

Wanda looked down at her car. It had been hers for so long she didn’t want to abandon it. Just the thought made her start to panic.

“No no no! No no we can’t. I can’t abandon The Meteor.”

“Well what the fuck do you want to do then sis?” Demanded Pietro. Wanda looked down at the car then off into the distance.

“The old bomb site is just over those hills. We might have a chance of tricking them.”

Pietro looked down as if going over the idea in his head

“Yeah okay that could work.” He said. He pulled on his goggles and they both gunned the engines.

The ride took only a few minutes but to Wanda it felt like a day. What they were going to do was dangerous as neither of them has been to the bomb site in years. She had no idea what was gonna be over those hills and she cursed herself for bringing it up.

“It’s his fault though!” She thought. “He knows thinking about losing Meteor makes the panic take hold. He shouldn’t bring up such stupid ideas.”

They drove in silence, the yelling growing slowly louder and louder behind them. Soon they crested the hills and saw it: The Old Bomb Site. It was a massive crater, as wide as a city block and as deep as an ocean. At the bottom frothed a hundred hear old cesspool of radiation and decay, an acidic mess that burned everything that entered it. The site was dangerous too because of its walls, pure glass, cooked at several thousand degrees kelvin until hard as steel and beautiful in the sunlight. Pietro and Wanda looked down at what could potentially be their deaths, then slowly started the engines rolled down right to the edge of the crater.

Within minutes the bandits arrived. They parked on the hill and were yelling and hollering as Wanda and Pietro leaned lazily against their vehicles. The bandits screamed and jeered and waved their arms while Pietro pulled a small device from his pocket. It was wired up to detonate the explosives they laced the hill with when they visited before. As the bandits stared on in confusion, Pietro pressed the button. And nothing happened.

The Maximoffs looked at each other in sudden panic. The bandits picked up that their plan failed and began to cheer and yell again. 

Wanda looked at Pietro. “What do we do?” He looked just as panicked.

The bandits started to move down the hill. They walked inhumanely, with strange convulsions and sudden bursts of speed. With every second they drew closer and the terror that they had heard described of the bandits victims rang through the Maximoffs heads.

Pietro looked down and tried the button again. Nothing. He looked up at the things closing in on prey. He sighed and climbed on the bike and pulled his goggles up.

“Wait Pietro what are you doing??” Wanda demanded. 

“If I go up and blow the explosives manually you’ll make it out of here.” He said, and looked at her. “Just promise to stay out of trouble for a little bit once I’m gone, okay? And when you get a new partner be sure to find someone as equally mad.”

“Stop!” She yelled, and kicked his kickstand down. “I’m not letting you do this! You’re my twin, you mean the world to me. If one of us dies, who’ll help the other when the panic comes??”

“Look Wanda there’s no way were both making it out of this alive!” He yelled. “It’s either I go, and you lose a brother, or you go and I lose a sister. You know the bandits, you know they never stop riding and you know what they’ll do to us if they catch us. One of us is making it out of here alive little sister, but there will be no more Mad Maximoffs.”

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone reads this I will publish the most requested ending. If you enjoyed the fic, leave a comment saying who u would rather die and I'll publish that ending


End file.
